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Man jailed for causing death of newborn baby in road crash

A man has been jailed for causing the death of a newborn baby in an horrific road smash.

Oliver Hewson was just 18 days old when he was killed in the accident earlier this year.

Thomas Black, 62, of Central Avenue, Gretna, was behind the wheel of a car which ploughed into a vehicle driven by Oliver’s mother Suzanne on the A75.

The accident happened on March 7 at the notorious Hardthorn junction near Carrutherstown between Annan and Dumfries.

Mrs Hewson and her husband sat in the public gallery at Dumfries Sheriff Court as Black was jailed for 12 months and banned from driving for three years for causing Oliver’s death by careless driving.

At an earlier hearing Black had admitted driving at excessive and inappropriate speeds for the road lay-out, failing to keep a proper lookout and failing to notice Mrs Hewson’s stationary car indicating it was going to turn right onto a minor road.

Dumfries Sheriff Court was told Black’s vehicle hit the other car causing it to spin into the path of oncoming traffic.

The child, who lived in Carrutherstown, died as a result of his injuries.

Ms Hewson and the driver of the oncoming car, Rebecca Thompson, were both injured.

The court was told Black had claimed a low sun had been causing him difficulties in seeing the other car.

Depute fiscal Pamela Rhodes told the court that there were warning signs starting at around 300 yards from the junction.

Miss Rhodes added: “Black did not take any evasive action until the point of no return.”

Advocate Edith Forrest, for Black, said: “If ever there was a tragic case then this was it. Tragic for baby Oliver, tragic for his family and tragic too for Mr Black.

“It is a very difficult day for the family of Oliver Hewson and our hearts go out to them.”

She said the accident had had a devastating effect on Black, a man of exemplary character who had no previous convictions.

The tragedy came just two days after 53-year-old Lesley Cairns, from Annan, died on another stretch of the A75 near Gretna.

A man was also seriously injured in a crash on the A75, two miles west of Annan, on March 17.